DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks coach Dusty May said Wednesday that a second call in a recent game was one his staff felt confident Dallas would have won on review, but the Mavericks had already used their challenge. May had spent it earlier in that game on a play the staff saw from a tough angle.
May spoke after practice, a day before Dallas opens a three-game road trip at the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks are 7-4 after winning three straight.
“It’s the staff,” May said. “We have the numbers of which ones are most likely to be overturned, which ones are harder to judge. And then sometimes we’ll gamble a little bit more if we’ll take points off the board or foul and one.”
“I think the one call the other night took a foul away from one of our guys and it took away the two free throws,” May continued. “We’ve got to do a better job of finishing the possessions so we don’t have to go to the jump ball. We can be rewarded with the ball.”
“But the one the other night, we had a tough angle at it,” May added. “We thought it was close to 100%.”
Later in that game came a play May described as “very, very impactful that we felt confident we would have won if we still had a challenge.” He did not identify the game or the play.
When The Dallas Mavericks Use A Challenge
Dallas beat the Indiana Pacers 125-122 on Monday for its third straight win. The Mavericks are 5-2 at American Airlines Center and 2-2 on the road.
“We want to steal possessions, especially sometimes the momentum of the game,” May explained. “If it’s a late shot clock play, we’ll let it go even if we feel like we’re going to win. But if there’s a play that maybe they’re on a 5-0 run, they’re on a 7-2 run or whatever, 7-1 run, then we think we’re going to get one. We’ll challenge it just to maybe try to turn a little bit of momentum and whatnot.”
Dusty May On Players Asking For Challenges
May, the former Michigan and Florida Atlantic coach, is in his first season as an NBA head coach. He took over a Dallas team that went 26-56 last season.
“I think our guys know that we’re all about them and we trust them,” May said. “But they also know that we have the numbers and the situations behind us as well. So there have been times whenever one of our players told me the other day he said to challenge it and I paused to make sure and then we challenged it. And he came up and said, ‘Hey, don’t feel like you have to challenge it because I’m asking you to.’”
“And I said no, obviously we’re taking stock and who’s telling us what the record is,” May continued. “’Cause some guys have great impulse control, they just know. And then other guys think it’s our ball every time. And so we try to look away when those guys are telling us to challenge.”
The Mavericks visit Minnesota at 7 p.m. CT Thursday, then play at the Cleveland Cavaliers at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday and the Boston Celtics at 5 p.m. CT Sunday. Dallas returns home Nov. 18 against the Golden State Warriors.
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